Fire destroys Jonathan Pierson's House and
deed to land.

When Jonathan Pierson's house was destroyed in a fire in
1744, it touched off a controversy that was to foreshadow the
American Revolution and prove the strength of the Mountain
Society.

Destroyed with Pierson's house was the most important
document in the settlement -the deed marking the sale of the land
between the Indians and the settlers. Although the Indians
offered to draw up a new deed, the English proprietors refused to
recognize its legitimacy and claimed ownership of the land.

The settlers ignored the claim and didn't bother to pay the
property taxes requested by the crown. Nothing happened until
1745, when the proprietors jailed Samuel Baldwin for not paying
his 40-shilling tax per acre.